Plumbing and Piping - slow draining toilet

Doityourself.com community forum was created to provide answers to all questions related to home improvement and home repair. Doityourself community can help you find information about how-to topics on small fixes to large remodeling projects. With comprehensive how-to content and expertly moderated community forums DoItYourself.com makes it easy to tackle even the most complex home improvement projects.




View Full Version : slow draining toilet


kitch
01-23-03, 10:14 AM
my toilet has just started to drain very slowly or won't empty at all even when just flushing the water in the bowl.I ran a snake down it's clear.my toilet sits right above main drain outlet.It goes straight down to main drain that goes outside.I looked through the cleanout opening and it looks clean.I went on my roof and ran a 25' snake down each vent I have two. I am lost as what the problem is and what to do about it.
Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!
Jim
Lima,Ohio


Mike Swearingen
01-23-03, 01:00 PM
Jim,
Toilets have their own built-in traps and almost anything can get hung up in them (too much paper, toothbrush, hair curler, plastic toy, feminine products, etc.).
Get a crank-handle toilet auger, feed the auger into the trap through the bowl, and crank away to try to dislodge the blockage.
If you can't do it from the bowl, you may have to pull the toilet and auger the toilet trap from underneath (will need a new wax ring).
Good Luck!
Mike

kitch
01-23-03, 02:35 PM
Old Guy;
I did run a snake auger down through the trap and still no luck.Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks Again
Kitch


Mike Swearingen
01-24-03, 10:26 AM
The next thing to check would be the holes around the rim of the toilet around the bowl.
They can get partially clogged up with mineral deposits, etc., and cause a toiilet not to flush right.
Take a piece of coathanger wire and ream them out, to see if that helps.
I assume that the flapper stays up during the flushing cycle properly. If not, shorten the chain until it just allows the flapper to fully seal.
Good Luck!
Mike

garywarmer
01-24-03, 11:44 AM
what is a snake, american plumbing is very different from english plumbing and u got all these strange names for things.

what u need to do is unscrew the pan and take it out the mulitquick, to see if there is a blockage in the pan itself,usely they are the smell things put around the sides that fall down, these allow a small amount of water through but not much. u may need to change the syphon and ball valve as well to get a better flush.

Plumber2000
01-24-03, 11:56 AM
Well I call it a toilet auger looks like this

<p ALIGN="left"><IMG SRC="http://www.atozplumbing.com/2547d7d0.gif" BORDER="0"></p>